She Doesn't Need a Spotlight
by Don'tWannaCloseMyEyes
Summary: Tina gets it now. She is going to spend the rest of her senior year singing backup for Marley. And the worst part is, she's happy to do it. And it's because she's Marley Rose.


**This is sort of a rant, in the form of Tina's thoughts. Marley's a Mary Sue; it's like a 12-year-old fanfiction writer has taken over Glee. **

XXX

Marley Rose.

Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl.

But she's not just beautiful. Just wait till you hear what comes out of her mouth. Sure, she may not sound like Rachel Berry but even Will Schuester watches the blue-eyed girl as if he's witnessing Whitney Houston's ghost standing in the choir room, singing a Britney Spears song.

Somehow, even during Brittany's week, it's still all about Marley.

But Marley deserves it, doesn't she?

Poor girl, her mom's just a lunch lady, who people pick on because of her size. She was practically _forced_ into binging-and-purging by her genetics, and all the bullying by that_ jealous_ sociopathic Death Eater disguised as a bitchy blonde Cheerio.

_People picked on Mercedes because of her size, and Chocolate Thunder only came back sassier than ever, with her own kind of sexiness that only Mercedes can pull off. And what about Lauren Zizes? The plus-sized badass girl who walked around school like she was a supermodel. Isn't that more admirable than a twig-looking thing sticking her fingers down her throat just because she feels sorry for herself?_

And she's poor. She's raised by a single mom, the poor girl; she has to buy her clothes from Wal-Mart, and, even though Marley just _happens_ to have a fancy iPhone, she still holds her head high when she walks down those hallways wearing second-hands.

_Puck was raised by a single mom. And so was Artie. And Sam was forced to become a stripper at the age of 16 to support his family. So, why don't they get showered with the love and attention that Mary Sue- uh, sorry- that Marley Rose receives?_

It's probably because they don't have the girl's genuine kindness. She's sweet and soft and gentle, she's modest about her talent and beauty, but still, unlike Tina of course, Marley's no pushover.

It was beautiful how Marley stood up for her mom that day. Tina could never do something like that. Meek Tina, who used to let the dorky, nerdy kid in the wheelchair talk to her like she was worthless (she loves Artie; he's just a little bad at expressing himself sometimes). Not even bitchy Tina could stand up for anything the way Marley can (because if she_ does_, she's gonna be known as McKinley's Most Hated Bitchy Jealous Lima Loser- a title not even Santana Lopez can proclaim).

Speaking of Santana Lopez, is Tina the only one who thinks it crazy that the Latina was really, _really_ nice to Marley? Even Sue Sylvester, who was mean to _everybody_, including the oh-so-charming absensation Mike Chang, adores Marley Rose.

Well, Marley_ is_ sweet and beautiful, and Santana is a lesbian after all. And _everyone_ fell for Marley. There was Jake and Ryder, and_ Coach Sylvester_, probably even Finn, Kitty did eventually, and Tina herself was charmed by Sandra Dee (which, in Tina's mind, was either Rachel's or Mercedes' role).

Ugh, screw Santana Lopez! Even the biggest bitch on the planet is considered more _important_ and is loved by more than Tina is.

And the beautiful Quinn Fabray. That girl's a saint. It didn't matter that she got herself knocked up being the president of the celibacy club. And she was in a wheelchair too; how inspiring! (Somehow, she's considered more of an inspiration to disabled kids than Artie ever was).

But both Quinn and Santana turned out alright in the end. (Marley was _alright_ from the beginning.)

Marley, the new Rachel Berry, except nicer, and not annoying or self-centered.

Tina had been jealous of Rachel from the beginning, although, they _had_ always been _kind of_ friends.

To Tina, Rachel's best quality was her strength. No matter how hard you try to break Rachel Berry, she'll always come back stronger. Unlike Tina, of course. Timid, weak Tina.

Sure, Rachel was vain and not many people liked her- sorry, not many people _like_ her, but, like Quinn and Santana, she's a good person despite her flaws.

But wait, Marley _has_ no flaws (except, maybe, for the fact that she's stupi- er,_ naïve_). She's just picked on because everybody's _jealous_ of how perfect she is.

Perfection.

That's what every girl strives to be, at least once in their lives.

Where Mercedes found perfection in herself, Marley saw an opportunity to play the pity party again, or maybe not _play_ the pity party. This "perfect girl" thing is most definitely _not_ an act. Marley Rose just _happens_ to be the girl who walked out of a cliché American teen romance movie.

Plus, she was bulimic. Tina's never seen a bulimic girl in one of those movies before, so Marley's even more of a role model.

_Why isn't Rachel a role model? She stayed her annoying, Broadway-loving self through all the bullying. Why isn't Quinn a role model? The girl spent most of her second year of high school pregnant and half of her senior year in a wheelchair. Why isn't Mercedes a role model? When Coach Sylvester was forcing her to lose weight, she didn't do anything stupid, or use freaking laxatives. Mercedes loves herself, and that's what everybody admires about her. Rachel, Quinn and Mercedes never tried to change, but Marley did, so what kind of role model does that make her?_

Tina tried to change. She changed. Turned into a bratty, bitchy girl. It's like she killed the old Tina, the _real_ Tina, and took all the qualities she wanted that the other girls had. Rachel's strength, Mercedes' sassiness, Santana's snarky comments, Sugar's vanity...she combined it all into one and _created_ herself. Created a monster.

Tina likes glee club. She was okay being in the background, but she really thought that _someday_ she'd have her time to shine.

'Someday' came three times.

The first time, it was all in her head, but it still felt good to see people like Santana (in a wheelchair) and Mike (in dreadlocks) give her a standing ovation, even if it was when she was Rachel.

The second time was Gangnam Style. Tina couldn't speak Korean, but was still chosen for the lead (possibly because of Finn's racism). So, she learnt the words and got the spotlight for a few minutes- while sharing it with Jake and Brittany- but afterwards, she didn't receive the praise she'd expected. The praise she _deserved_. Instead, they were sitting in the choir room, surrounding poor, poor Marley.

The third time was Diva Week. And Tina won. Tina Cohen-Chang was the winner of Diva Week. But, even Finn and Miss Pillsbury was shocked. _So,_ Tina thought,_ I'm not the only one who doesn't think I'm talented enough. _

That's why she liked Blaine. He made her feel special, just like Mike did.

Mike Chang, the male Marley Rose, but only in Tina's eyes (also, she doesn't dislike Mike).

He can dance (obviously) and act and sing, he was McKinley's valedictorian last year, and he's kind and caring and (extremely) good-looking. He, like Marley, is perfect.

That's what made Tina insecure. Why would somebody as perfect as Mike Chang be with somebody as _ordinary_ as her? Tina loved and trusted Mike, but she felt uneasy knowing that the sexy Santana Lopez was hardly ever mean to Mike, or that the beautiful Quinn Fabray was always sitting next to him in glee club, and that the adorable Brittany Pierce always got to dance with him in group numbers.

But, Tina supposes, they probably didn't realise how _perfect_ he is like she did.

Maybe it's an Asian thing. Look at what happened with that Sunshine girl when she tried to join glee club. Maybe Asians are meant to be left in the background, no matter how perfect they were (Tina now wishes that Marley was Asian).

They won Regionals, thanks to Marley's _wonderful_ songwriting skills. Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury had finally gotten married, but in a very "romantic"-_cough,_ lame, _cough_- way. Brittany was leaving.

Tina was thankful for Brittany. Of course, Tina often felt that Brittany was cared more than _she_ was but they, along with Mercedes, Sugar and Lauren (_if_ she counts) were the female underdogs (The males were definitely everyone except Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Jake and Ryder).

So, with Brittany gone, who would Tina have to sing back-up for Marley with? Sugar's not much of a singer, as brilliant of a dancer as she is. Maybe Unique will step out of the spotlight, or maybe Kitty will mellow out (though that's probably impossible).

Tina gets it now. She is going to spend the rest of her senior year singing backup for Marley. And the worst part is, she's happy to do it.

And it's because she's_ Marley Rose_. As much as you hate her for being perfect, you still adore her being...Marley.

Tina knows she will _always_ be the underdog. But still, she's considering pulling a Sugar Motta and recreating the Troubletones. The only thing stopping her is that she's the only girl who's been there since day one of her freshman, and never left (Plus, she and Artie deserved to have whatever titles Blaine and Marley have, even if Blaine's her best friend).

In her head, Tina's giving herself a standing ovation, and all her friends are too (Marley, Kitty, Jake, Ryder and Unique still don't count as _friends_ for some reason). She knows she deserves a standing O as much as Rachel and Marley do (maybe even a little more than Marley).

She deserves it because she's been a good friend. She helped Artie with his wheelchair issues, Mike with the situation he had with his father, and she helped Rachel get into NYADA. She's sat in the background for almost four years, being everybody's cheerleader, and supporting your friends the way Tina has is much better than being a popular Cheerio.

She deserves the world, because she's put everybody else's wants above her own. No matter what she wants, or how hard she tries to get it, she'd never throw a Rachel Berry tantrum or pull a Marley Rose facial expression; she'd build a bridge and get over it, for her friends.

And that's one thing that Tina is _much_ better at than Marley Rose is, or even Rachel, Quinn or Santana. You can ask Blaine, or Mike, or Mercedes, or Artie, or Brittany- you can even ask Sugar or Joe for that matter- and they'd tell you the same thing: Tina Cohen-Chang is the best friend you could ever ask for, and she doesn't need a spotlight to tell her that.


End file.
